Cast your votes for the leaders, artists, innovators and icons who you think are the most influential people in the world. Though official voting for inclusion on the TIME 100 list has now closed, with Mir-Hossein Mousavi having won the honor, users can continue to vote for their favorites until the list is revealed on Thursday, April 29th

Ferran Adrià

By TIME STAFFThursday, Apr. 01, 2010

Samuel Aranda / Getty Images

Age: 48
Occupation: Chef
Previous TIME 100 Appearances: 1

Adrià is undoubtedly the most innovative chef of the past decade because of the inventive and artful cuisine he presents at his restaurant El Bulli on Spain's Costa Brava, which is usually open just six months a year. Now he has upped the ante on his rivals  and stunned the foodie world  by declaring that he is going to close El Bulli for two years and turn it into a think tank that will generate even more avant-garde dishes. Does playing hard to get help make him more influential?